· Web viewProctor Guidelines 2018 Preliminary The Braille Challenge is a national competition for school-age children who read and write braille Copyright 201 6 by Braille

Proctor Guidelines 2018 Preliminary

The Braille Challenge is a national competition for school-age children who read and write braille

Copyright 2016 by Braille Institute of America, Inc.

CONTEST PACKETSBraille Challenge Contacts

Sergio Oliva (323) 663-1111, Ext. 3137Director, Programs and Services

Marie Saldivar (323) 663-1111, Ext. 1215National Programs Coordinator

Christine Pak (323) 663-1111, Ext. 1321National Programs Specialist

PLEASE OPEN THE PACKAGE IMMEDIATELY to confirm you have the quantity you ordered for each student. If something is missing notify Christine Pak promptly so you are assured of receiving everything you need prior to your contest day.

IMPORTANT: These contests must be kept CONFIDENTIAL up until the day of your event. No information regarding contest questions is to be shared with students or families of students for any reason. Doing so may disqualify a student from eligibility for the Finals.

DO NOT PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTE OR SHARE CONTEST INFORMATION UNTIL AFTER THE MARCH 9, 2018, DEADLINE.

Five age-appropriate contestsThere are five contest groups: Apprentice (grades 1-2), Freshman (grades 3-4), Sophomore (grades 5-6), Junior Varsity (grades 7-9), Varsity (grades 10-12). All contests are designed to be held in 25-minute-long sessions.

Apprentice and Freshman Sophomore, Junior Varsity and • Spelling Varsity • Proofreading • Proofreading • Reading Comprehension • Reading Comprehension

• Speed and Accuracy • Chart and Graph Reading

TO RETURN CONTESTS Please return the completed contests immediately (within 7 days) after your event is finished and all scoring (if applicable) has been completed, together with their accompanying Permission Forms, and all practice and actual contest SD cards, if any.

Each contest should have one completed Contest Face Sheet attached to it regardless of the number of passages, etc., a contestant completed.

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Bundle together all contests for a contestant, attach their completed Permission Form, rubber band it together OR place everything in an envelope and label it with the contestant’s name and contest grade level.

Be sure your return packet includes completed Tally Sheets with raw scores only. It is no longer necessary to include print copies of registration logs or scoring grid. You may keep all brailled contest materials for future use as practice samples.

EVEN IF YOUR EVENT IS EARLY IN THE YEAR, DO NOT PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTE OR SHARE CONTEST INFORMATION UNTIL AFTER MARCH 9, 2018. ALL ELIGIBLE CONTESTS ARE TO BE RETURNED TO BRAILLE INSTITUTE NO LATER THAN THIS DATE.

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Each contest can be held in its own room, with groups moving from one room to the other throughout the day, or students may stay in one room with their age group for all contests. We recommend older students taking contests that are below their grade level be in their own “Rookie” room. The critical factor is to be sure students are in a quiet environment, free of all distractions. Do not put two or more groups in one contest room.

Parents and other spectators ARE NOT allowed in the contest rooms during testing. If a student is disruptive, please remove them immediately and give them the opportunity to take their contest in a separate room, if possible. Students must remain quiet after completing their own contests and not allowed to disrupt others.

Please limit photographers/media allowed in the room. The best way for them to get the shots they need without disrupting an actual contest is to allow them in a room during the practice portion of Speed & Accuracy. If photography or videography is allowed, be sure a staff member is present. If a student is to be interviewed by the media, please do it during a lunch break or after all their testing is complete, so they do not lose their focus. Please be sure their parent or teacher accompanying them knows beforehand that they are being interviewed.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONTEST FACE SHEETThe Contest Face Sheet will help us quickly and accurately log individual scores and determine each contestant’s eligibility for the Final Round. Below are instructions on how to complete the Contest Face Sheet. Each contest must have its own filled-in Contest Face Sheet. Please use only one per contest regardless

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of the number of passages, etc., a contestant completed. A reproduction of the Contest Face Sheet is on page 6. The numbers below correspond to each section to be completed.

Instructions for Proctors1. Name—Please make sure the contestant's name is on a Contest Face

Sheet for each contest, in case a contestant’s contests get separated. 2. Group— Please "X" out the letter for the contest level being taken.

A = ApprenticeF = Freshman S = Sophomore J = Junior VarsityV = Varsity

3. Contest Category—Please place an "X" after the appropriate contest, indicating first or second passage or problem, if applicable. For example, if the contestant completed the Speed & Accuracy contest, Passage 1, place an "X" after Pssg. 1. If the contestant gets to additional passages, place an "X" after Pssg. 2, and so on. This procedure applies to all the contests with multiple passages. (Please see examples that follow the CFS.) Mark “Did Not Take” ONLY if a student did not attempt the contest.

4. At or Below Grade Level —Please circle whichever applies to a contestant. Contestants taking any one of the contests below grade level are not eligible for the Finals.Below Grade Level is any Apprentice contestant taking the contests in uncontracted braille OR any contestant taking contests below their contest grade level. Also, if, for example, a Sophomore contestant takes the Freshman Spelling contest as well as some Sophomore contests, this contestant is still considered Below Grade Level.Contracted or Uncontracted—Please circle whichever applies to a contestant. Contestants taking any one of the contests in uncontracted braille are not eligible for the Finals.

5. Number of Sheets—Fill in the total number of braille sheets submitted for the attached contest.

6. Comments—Include anything you feel is pertinent to a student and/or the test-taking process. For example, if their brailler broke down or there was an interruption during the test, you may note that in this section.

Instructions for ScorersThis section is to be completed by volunteer scorers only (individual transcribers contracted by Braille Institute, or scorers at Preliminary Regional events). Teachers who proctor the Braille Challenge for their own students cannot score their own students’ work.7. Score—Fill in the total score for a completed contest. 8. Initials—To be completed by the person scoring the contest.

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9. Notes—Used to explain anything pertaining to the scoring of the contest. It might include such things as "couldn't score lines 24 and 25 due to typeovers." Or ask questions you had that BIA staff can review when the contest is submitted.

Please be sure to write or print legibly.

PLEASE USE ONLY ONE CONTEST FACE SHEET PER CONTEST REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF PASSAGES, ETC., COMPLETED.

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CONTEST DEFINITIONS & PROCEDURESBEFORE EACH TESTING SESSION, PLEASE STRESS TO THE CONTESTANTS THAT ALL THE CONTESTS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT. NO ONE CONTEST IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR AS TO ELIGIBILITY FOR THE FINALS. SUCCESSFUL CONTESTANTS ARE THE ONES WHO DO WELL IN ALL CATEGORIES.

ALSO, BE SURE THE CONTESTANTS ARE LISTENING CAREFULLY AS SOME OF THE INSTRUCTIONS MAY HAVE CHANGED.

Students may use ANY MANUAL brailler—this includes the Perkins Classic, the new APH/Perkins Light Touch, and the APH/Perkins Next Generation brailler. EXCEPTION: Students may NOT use the Perkins Smart Brailler as it provides visual and auditory feedback. Answer sheets MUST be brailled on 8 ½ x 11” paper, OR brailler margins set for a 28-cell line.

The Speed & Accuracy contest is now formatted for 8 ½” x 11” paper to accommodate the Next Generation smaller paper size. Students using larger paper will braille shorter lines following narrator’s instruction and to accommodate brailler margins set for a 28-cell line.

NEW THIS YEAR – Unified English Braille FOR ALL CONTESTS ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES. THERE IS NO EBAE OPTION.

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SPEED AND ACCURACY — Sophomore, Junior Varsity & Varsity

Materials: Two SD cards from Braille Institute – one with practice content, another with the actual contest content – approved digital player of choice & headphones, manual braillewriters and braille paper to fit, stopwatch or other timing device.

The “new line” instruction in the recording will be for the shorter line to accommodate 8 ½” x 11” paper. Students MUST now be using only 8 ½” x 11” paper, OR have brailler margins set for a 28-cell line.

Approved Players include:• VictorReader Stream, manufactured by Humanware• Bookport Plus, distributed by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH)

Basic instructions for both players are available on our website: www.braillechallenge.org. We recommend having one additional player available as back-up, and someone in each room that is familiar with both devices to troubleshoot.

Instructions for proctoring the contest:

• Distribute practice SD cards and braille paper and allow for a 10-minute practice session. Practice cards will be a different color than the cards with the actual contest on them. Be sure students do not put their name on the practice tests pages. This is for their use only. Do not return any practice materials to Braille Institute.

• After the 10-minute practice session, collect all practice media and practice sheets. PRACTICE SHEETS MUST BE DISCARDED.

• To save time, you and your assistants may hand out the actual contest media and braille paper as you collect the practice materials.

• ACCURATE TIMING IS ESSENTIAL. Use the stopwatch to ensure contest is exactly 25 minutes.

• Collect all the tests. Check that ALL PAGES have a first and last name and page numbers in print. Complete and attach the Contest Face Sheet.

• Both contest and practice SD cards must be returned to Braille Institute with the contests.

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NOTE: Proctor assistants can be instructed to collect contest pages as a contestant completes each passage for delivery to the Scoring Room to help facilitate the scoring process.Please carefully read the following procedures to your students: “This contest involves transcribing an audio file into braille text. One point is earned for each correct word you braille (including punctuation). Two points are deducted for:

• each word you braille that has one or more mistakes in it• each formatting error you make• each word in the audio file that you missed brailling

You are not necessarily expected to complete all of the passages; it is most important TO STRIVE FOR ACCURACY.

You will first get a practice SD card and several sheets of paper to do a 10-minute practice. When the file begins to play, the narrator will identify the passage as “practice”. This is your opportunity to become familiar with how the player works.

At the end of the practice period, SD cards and practice sheets will be collected and the actual contest cards will be distributed. Do not insert contest SD cards until the start of the contest period. You will be allowed exactly 25 minutes for this contest. Again, the narrator will identify the passage by age group and indicate that it is the actual contest material, so you’ll know you have the correct file. Please stop when I indicate that your time is up.”

(OPTIONAL if you choose to do this.) As you complete a passage, proctor assistants will be collecting your pages and delivering them to the Scoring Room.

Read the following rules to your students:1. You must braille your first and last name and the NUMBER OF THE PASSAGE on the upper left corner of EVERY PAGE. You must

number each page next to your name. 2. When starting a new passage, you must begin on a new page. 3. If you use 11 ½” x 11” paper, the brailler margins are set for a 28-cell line,

so be sure to follow the recorded instruction for starting a “new line”. 4. It will not be counted as an error if you don’t follow the “new line” instruction

exactly due to corrections made in a line. However, please follow “new line” instruction as closely as possible.

5. “New line” means go to the next line, left margin. Do not indent.6. When the narrator says “new paragraph”, at that point you should indent two spaces before beginning. There should not be blank lines between paragraphs.7. Narrator will tell you when there is a “dash,” “hyphen”, “capital,” “double

capital,” “parenthesis,” italics,” or punctuation. 9

If a word contains an apostrophe, the narrator will say the word first, then say it again giving the apostrophe. The word “won’t,” the narrator will say won’t w-o-n apostrophe t.

8. For Roman numerals, the narrator will say, for example, Roman numeral two, double capital I-I. You are NOT to braille the words Roman numeral two, only the actual Roman numeral.

9. If a name or word is going to be spelled out, the narrator will pronounce the name or word first, and then give the spelling with capitalization, if any. The name Herschbach, the narrator will say Herschbach capital H-e-r-s-c-h-b-a-c-h.

10. If the narrator says “number 25,” you are to braille number indicator 25. If the narrator says only the words “twenty-five,” you must spell out the number in words. DO NOT USE NEMETH NUMBERS. Nemeth numbers will be counted as an error.

11. There may be formatting instructions included. When you hear the narrator say “Formatting Instructions,” listen carefully as to how you are to braille what follows. You will be scored on formatting the following:

• List format• Poetry format• Cell-5 heading

When there is to be a blank line, you will hear the instruction “new line for blank line.”

12. Full cells are not needed to cover mistakes. If you braille a word incorrectly, rebraille it. The last version of the word is the one that will be scored.

13. If you begin a word that’s at the end of a line and it does not fit, braille the word again on the next line. If you do not rebraille the entire word, the incomplete word will be counted as an error.

This also applies to words that are attached to other words such as to, into, by, etc. If you are rebrailling the word that follows any of these, you must also rebraille the to, into, or by, etc., or it will be counted as an error.

14. The phrase “end of passage” does not need to be brailled.

Please carefully read the following to your contestants:

When the narrator begins speaking, you should hear the following title for Passage 1 (read appropriate title for your contestants):

Sophomore – “If Braille Were Print”

Jr. Varsity – “Fridays Are For Tea”

Varsity – “Phobias”If you do not hear this title, raise your hand immediately to receive a replacement SD card.

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CHART & GRAPH READING—Sophomore, Junior Varsity & Varsity

Materials:Charts and graphs with multiple-choice answers, manual braille writers and braille paper to fit, stopwatch or other timing device. Students will be asked to do basic calculations, but are not allowed to use calculators or an abacus for this contest.



• Collect all the tests. Check that ALL PAGES have a first and last name and page numbers in print. Complete and attach one Contest Face Sheet.

Read the following procedures to your students:

“You will be given two charts or graphs, each with 10 multiple-choice questions. You are to read the graph or chart and then answer the questions by brailling the number of each question and the letter of the correct answer. Work at your own pace. Some students may not be able to complete all of the materials. The test is 25 minutes. Please stop when I indicate time is up.”

Read the following rules to your students:1. You must braille your first and last name on the upper left corner of

EVERY PAGE. You must number each page next to your name. 2. You do not need to start a new page for each graph. Put the number of

the chart or graph, for example “Graph 1,” above each new set of answers. Number the answers, starting a new line for each answer. Remember, braille only the letter of the correct answer.

3. If you want to change an answer, THE LAST ANSWER YOU BRAILLE FOR THAT QUESTION WILL BE THE ANSWER USED FOR SCORING.

4. You may not have time to complete all of the materials. Work at your own pace.

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READING COMPREHENSION—All Five Groups

Materials:Braille passages, manual braillewriters and braille paper to fit, stopwatch or other timing device.



• Collect all the tests. Check that ALL PAGES have a first and last name and page numbers in print. Complete and attach a Contest Face Sheet.

Read the following procedures to your students:

“You will be given pages with several braille passages. You are to read each passage and then braille the answer to the multiple-choice questions about that passage. You will have 25 minutes to complete as much work as possible. Please stop when I say your time is up.”

Read the following rules to your students:1. You must braille your first and last name on the top left corner of

EVERY PAGE. You must number each page next to your name. 2. You do not need to start a new page for each passage. Put the number

of the story, for example “Passage 1,” above each new set of answers. Number the answers and start a new line for each answer. Braille only the letter of the correct answer.

3. If you want to change an answer, THE LAST ANSWER YOU BRAILLE FOR THAT QUESTION WILL BE THE ANSWER USED FOR SCORING.

4. You may not have time to complete all of the stories. Work at your own speed.

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SPELLING—Apprentice & Freshman

Materials: List of words and sentences, manual braillewriters and braille paper to fit, stopwatch or other timing device.

Instructions for proctoring the contests:


• Read 10 words at a time, then ask contestants to “change their paper,” giving everyone a chance to put in a clean sheet. This will be noted in the contest document. You and your assistant may help a student change their paper at this time. Contestants may single space or double space between words.

• Continue reading spelling words and sentences for 25 minutes, allowing about 35 seconds for each one.


PROCTORS—It is very important that you get through all 40 spelling words so that your students’ scores will be comparable to others nationally. Allow approximately 35 seconds per spelling word to get through your list in the 25 minutes allotted.

Read the following procedure to your students:

“I will read a word for you to spell. I will then read a sentence using the word. Then I will say the word again. Braille the word in uncontracted braille. If you know the contraction, add a space and braille the word again in contracted braille. Capitalize the word ONLY if it is a proper name, or the name of a month or day of the week. Otherwise, all words should be brailled in all lower case letters. You will get points for brailling the uncontracted word right, and points for brailling the contracted word right. Be careful, some words do not have a contraction, like the word “ball.” For those, just spell out the uncontracted word.

I will be reading a total of 40 words. Remember, this is a timed test. You will get about 35 seconds to braille each word before I read the next word. If you are not able to spell a word before I read the next one, it’s OK to skip that word. Go to the next word. If you remember a word you missed, and there’s time left, you may go back and braille that word. Please stop when I say time is up.”

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Read the following rules to your students for all grade levels:1. Braille your first and last name on the top left corner of EVERY PAGE.

You must put a page number on each page next to your name. 2. First braille the number given for a word, and then braille the word.

Remember to put a space after the uncontracted word and braille the contracted word on the same line.

3. Hit the return key to start a new line for the next word. Points will not be taken away if you use the wrong number for a word.

4. If you make a mistake and want to spell the word again, do not “for” it out. You can braille the word again. THE LAST UNCONTRACTED WORD YOU BRAILLE AND THE LAST CONTRACTED WORD YOU BRAILLE WILL BE THE WORDS USED FOR SCORING.

5. I will be stopping after every ten words so that everyone can change paper at the same time. No matter how much space you have left on your paper, when I say “Everyone stop and change your paper now,” everyone should change their paper.

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PROOFREADING—All Five GroupsMaterials: Brailled paragraphs, manual braillewriters and braille paper to fit, stopwatch or other timing device.

Instructions for proctoring the contests: • ACCURATE TIMING IS ESSENTIAL. Use the stopwatch to ensure contest is exactly 25 minutes.


PLEASE NOTE there are separate instructions for Apprentice contest.

Read the following procedure to your students:(Read the following for Apprentice level only:)“The contest has ten sentences, each followed by answer choices. Find the word, or the word with the punctuation, that has a mistake. For example, the mistake could be the wrong braille contraction, a word spelled wrong or using a comma instead of a period. Braille the number of the question first, and then the letter of the correct answer. Some sentences don’t have any mistakes, so “no error” could also be the right answer. You have 25 minutes to finish as much work as you can. Please stop when I say your time is up.”

(Read the following for all other grade levels :)“The contest has 10 paragraphs, each containing numbered sentences and followed by a choice of answers. Find the sentence or sentences that has a mistake in it. For example, the mistake could be the wrong braille contraction, a word spelled wrong or using a comma instead of a period. On your answer sheet, braille the number of the question first, and then the letter of the correct answer. Some paragraphs don’t have any mistakes, so “no error” could also be the right answer. You have 25 minutes to finish as much work as you can. Please stop when I say your time is up.”

Read the following rules to your students:1. You must braille your first and last name on the upper left corner of

EVERY PAGE. You must number each page next to your name. 2. Braille the number of the question for each paragraph first, and then braille

the letter of the correct answer. Start a new line for each answer. If you want to change an answer, THE LAST ANSWER YOU BRAILLE FOR THAT QUESTION WILL BE THE ANSWER USED FOR SCORING.

3. You may not have time to finish all the paragraphs. Work at your own speed.

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Documents

· Web viewProctor Guidelines 2018 Preliminary The Braille Challenge is a national competition for school-age children who read and write braille Copyright 201 6 by Braille